Firefox vs. Internet Explorer: Part 2

Gian M. Fulgoni Chairman Emeritus

In Part 1 of this post, I reported on the differences in demographics of users of the Firefox browser compared to users of the Internet Explorer browser. Here in Part 2, I’d like to share their ‘cognographic’ profiles with you, which is comScore’s interpretation of people’s interests, passions and lifestyles based on their actual online behavior. Marketers and their advertising agencies use these cognographic profiles to create more persuasive advertising or to design more effective media plans, both based on a better understanding of the characteristics of their target audience.

Our data shows several telling differences between the two groups of browser users. Notably, a significantly higher percentage of Firefox users visit “user-generated content” sites. Specifically, more than six in ten Firefox users visit blog and photo-sharing sites, compared to less than four in ten Internet Explorer users. Firefox users are also more likely to visit sites offering online services such as software downloads (84 percent vs. 54 percent) and web hosting (56 percent vs. 31 percent), as well as sites in the technology (86 percent vs. 60 percent) and technology news (54 percent vs. 29 percent) categories.

Their profile also suggests that Firefox users are more likely to be better-educated or are seeking to be better educated. Specifically, a far greater proportion of Firefox users than Internet Explorer users visited sites in the education category (78 percent vs. 56 percent), sites that sell books (60 percent vs. 34 percent), as well as sites in the directories/resources (reference) category (70 percent vs. 46 percent).

Firefox users are more likely to be tech-savvy, educated, and engaged with user-generated content.